


A Matter of Scale

by Zita



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Inquisitor, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dragons, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2015-08-29
Packaged: 2018-04-17 19:52:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4679207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zita/pseuds/Zita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nobody expected Andraste's Herald to be a goddamn high dragon.<br/>A truly preposterous AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Matter of Scale

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by silliness, and taking some liberties with dragons.  
> 2018 Update: I'm sorry friends, this is probably all there's ever going to be like this. I had a lot of fun and am glad you did too, though!

The dragon was the only survivor. This wouldn’t have been too shocking. Haven’s dragon problems had been over for ten years, and the appearance of the big female had taken the conclave entirely by surprise. It was possible, unlikely but possible, that a single dragon could wipe out the temple of sacred ashes and everyone around it.

It was _impossible_ that a high dragon had fallen out of a rift to the Fade, ushered by Andraste herself, and just landed in the crater that used to be the temple.

But there she was and, despite the considerable reluctance of the soldiers to approach her, the unconscious high dragon had been moved and heavily chained. Solas had insisted on seeing to the glowing green gash on one front talon, which pulsed broader with each stretch of the tear in the sky.

“It will kill her if I do not try,” he’d said. “And if she dies, you have no one left to question.”

Cassandra hated him for being right. “Go then. If it kills _you_ , I will have two fewer problems.”

She was about to interrogate a blessed _dragon_. Though it was known that some of the beasts could talk, it was a mad and desperate endeavor. At least the others had the sense not to remark on her unique qualification for the job.

When the creature finally woke, Cassandra was pleased to note that it could barely move. The dragon couldn’t thrash its way free, and her head had been secured so that any fire would only hit bare snow and earth.

Standing to one side, the dragon could only glare at Cassandra with one balefire green eye.

_“Release me.”_

It was not a shout, or a roar, but a deep rumble of command that resonated in the dragon's massive chest.

Cassandra did not flinch.

“I could kill you where you lie this moment, beast,” she answered. “Do you realize what you have done?”

The dragon only spat a thin stream of flame onto the ice, snarling. Though the nearest soldier was several yards off, he took a reluctant step backward.

Cassandra rested the sword point at the hinge of her captive's jaw. “Answer me!” she demanded.

The dragon stilled and hissed in disgust. “What do you want from me?”

“Answers, creature! What happened back there at the temple?”

The dragon was silent for a moment. “I attacked a Dark One.”

“You what?”

“A _Dark One_ ,” the dragon growled, irritation rising. “That Which Crawls Beneath. I smelled its foul blood days ago and finally found the source. I was going to hunt it down.”

“And then?” Cassandra still didn’t know what the dragon was talking about, but at least she was getting _something_.

The dragon’s eye rolled away from Cassandra, out to the distant tree line. She shivered, and when she spoke her voice had quieted to the low grate of grinding boulders. “Green. Then dark. Monsters. A human, shouting words to me as I climbed.”

The Fade, then. A human - Andraste? Could that preposterous account be true?

“What did she say?”

The dragon’s voice rose again. “I don’t _know_. Now _release_ me.”

Cassandra pressed the sword, point digging into the thick, scaled hide. “You have no idea what you’ve _done_ , do you?”

“And I don’t much _care_ ,” the dragon hissed. “Cut me if you want to, creature, living or dead I will not be kept h-“

There was a thunderclap from the Breach above and the dragon broke off into a roar of pain. Cassandra jumped back. The green mark surged on the dragon’s claw and she twisted as much as the chains would allow. The spasm passed and the dragon panted in the snow, then stared hard at Cassandra again.

“What is happening to me?”

“You are dying, dragon. The mark on you is connected to the hole in the sky, and as they both spread it _will_ kill you.”

The dragon’s eyes rolled upward to the Breach, and she said nothing.

Cassandra sighed. “Do you even know what the Fade is?” There was no way she was doing this. There was no way she was explaining basic facts about reality to a beast the size of a house.

“Monsters,” the dragon answered finally. “Dreams of green and monsters.”

Close enough. “Demons are pouring through rifts all over, all spawned by the Breach. It spreads by the hour, and if we do not stop it, it will consume us all.”

“And you will release me if I assist.”

“Yes.” If it would get the dragon to cooperate, Cassandra would make that promise for now.

The dragon met her gaze, somehow communicating the vast depths of her disdain with a single inhuman glower.

“ _Fine_. But you will release me _now_.”

“Then, for the moment, we have a deal.”

Cassandra motioned the men forward to unbind the world’s most unwanted savior.


End file.
